


RWBY - More Than Meets The Eye

by DJ_Ethan



Category: RWBY, Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Continuity, Crossover, post volume 4
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2017-09-18
Packaged: 2018-12-21 16:30:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11948157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DJ_Ethan/pseuds/DJ_Ethan
Summary: The war between Autobots and Decepticons has ended. With the war ended, the people of Cybertron explore the worlds their ancestors explored once before. But when Decepticon resistance attacks and strands a group of Autobots on Remnant, the threat of war looms over, and the people of Remnant, struggling with its own dark times, may be caught in it.As Ruby Rose and her team's path intertwines with the Autobots, the witch Salem threatens to overtake Remnant with her own wicked plans. And the Decepticon Resistance, now on Remnant aiming to finish off the Autobots of the Lost Light, wreaks havoc upon the helpless. Can a Prime bring peace to Remant? Or will the planet fall to the chaos and war of Cybertron along with it's own monsters?





	1. Prologue: Journey's End

**_“The galaxy is a vast expanse._ **

**_Years ago, the ancients had voyaged throughout the stars, seeking new worlds, life, and forms of energy._ **

**_However, that exploration was cut short by the dawn of war._ **

**_Our civil war brought our home to ruin, and with no choice, we spread across the cosmos._ **

**_However, our ancestors’ searches aided us in a quest for our new home. Using ancient pathways beyond our comprehension, we escaped to a new world. One filled with life, energy, and sentience._ **

**_And now, with our age-long-war finally at an end, it’s time for us to continue what we were left behind._ **

**_Once again, the people of Cybertron are to explore beyond our home.”_**

* * *

_“Attention all crew members. We are nearing the our destination, and are expected to arrive in an Earth hour!”_

‘Huh. That was a lot faster than I expected,’ Bumblebee thought to himself. ‘Then again, now that we’ve got Spacebridge tech back up and running, this wasn’t going to be too long to begin with.’

_“Bumblebee,”_ came a voice from his intercom, one he recognized belonging to Kup. _“Get yer butt up to the deck! We need to talk to you about the plan when we land!”_

Rolling his eyes, Bumblebee made his way to the deck as ordered. On the deck, he found several familiar faces on board, briefly greeting them, and made his way over to Kup at the helm.

“Alright, I’m here,” he said, saluting the older ‘bot. “So what’d you mean, ‘the plan when we land?’ We’re almost there, after all.”

“It’s about the population, Bee,” Kup said simply, taking a seat. “Remember how when we got to Earth that we more or less had to stay undercover? According to what info I’ve been getting from the guys down there, this planet is like that, too.”

Bumblebee nodded. “Er, thanks, I guess. Shouldn’t you be telling the crew, though?”

“Actually, that’s what I called you up here for,” Kup smirked as he put a hand on Bumblebee’s shoulder. “You’re the one who’s gonna tell them.”

Bee rolled his eyes. “Ugh, c’mon Kup, really? Why me? Why not you, or Red Alert, or-”

He was cut off, though. “Because you could use a reminding as well, kid,” Kup snapped at him. “I’ve seen your record, and you easily are responsible for the most human-Autobot interaction back on Earth. I figure it’d be best to remind you that we’re supposed to be robots in disguise.”

“Fine,” Bee said, pouting. Admittedly, making new friends was what he was hoping most for in this mission. But orders were orders. “Just know I won’t be held responsible if any of the others-”

Bee was interrupted by the ship suddenly quaking. Then the alarm went off.

_“Attention all crew members! We are under attack! Decepticon resistance has followed and boarded us!”_

“Ugh, looks like we’re getting one hell of a warm-up, huh, kid?” Kup looked at Bee, who was already armed for combat.

“Would you have it any other way?” he asked, rushing to the lower floors of the ship.

Bee was shocked to see what he saw though. Dead bots were all around the halls, energon spilt and splattered on the walls.

Kup rang in to his communicator. _“Bumblebee, we’re entering the planet’s atmosphere now! How’re things looking down there?_

“I… was too late,” Bee reported with regret. “Whoever boarded us, they’ve already moved on from here. How many bots do you think are still alive?”

_“I don’t want to give a count on what I feel, kid. I hate to say it, but I think our best bet would be emergency separation.”_

“You’d let them take three quarters of the ship?”

_“Better three quarters than all four. If you can, find anyone and get them back to the front, kid. We’re gonna have to make it to the base with whoever we have left.”_

It hurt to even think of it. There were already casualties, but if Decepticon resistance had indeed boarded, judging from the hall of corpses he was in, it would be a slaughter. But he was a soldier. He knew this was a possibility going into the mission. And if he could, he’d save as many Autobots he could.

“Understood,” he answered. “I’ll find as many as I can and take them to the helm. Bumblebee out.”

Bee looked as much as he could. He only found a Decepticon instead.

“Alright, Autobot, time to die!” the Decepticon yelled as he rushed towards Bee, only to be gunned down mid-run from behind. As Bee looked up from the dead ‘con’s body, he felt slightly relieved.

“Boy, am I glad to see you here, Hot Rod.”

“Bumblebee, thank Primus you’re alive” Hot Rod said, lowering his weapon. “Have you found any survivors?”

“Up ahead, no,” Bee sadly confirmed. “I take it Kup put you up to the same thing?”

“Find anyone I can and get back to the front of the ship for emergency separation? You bet. Got a few bots saved and heading towards with Sideswipe.”

“Great. I’m gonna need you to help watch my back while we keep looking.”

“Do you really trust me to watch your back, Bee?” Hot Rod asked, his tone dropping solemnly.

“You bet I would,” Bee assured him. “Now let’s go-”

The two were interrupted with another quake that rocked the ship.

_“Bumblebee, Hot Rod!”_ Kup’s voice roared from their coms. _“The cons are gonna blow up the ship, we gotta separate now! Fall back and get your tailpipes over here!”_

“But Kup! What about-”

_“There’s nothing left we can do, kids… Get to the deck and we’ll separate the ship before it blows up. That’s an order. Not one I’m proud of, but an order nonetheless.”_

Hot Rod was about to rush further into the ship before Bumblebee held him back.

“Hot Rod, what do you think you’re doing?”

“Exactly what you think. I need to save as many people as I can!”

“We’re not going to make it, Hot Rod! You heard Kup, we gotta get back to the deck.”

“But-“

“Listen Hot Rod. I know you feel guilty about what happened at Autobot City. But right now, we need to focus on survival. We have a mission to accomplish.”

Hot Rod clenched his fist. Bumblebee put his hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“Optimus may have done it, but Optimus isn’t here right now.”

“…fine,” Hot Rod bitterly agreed. “Let’s speed back to the deck.”

The two Autobots transformed and sped their way to the rest of the crew. They were almost there, there wasn’t too much left to drive towards-

Suddenly, a decepticon seeker burst through the wall.

“Why hello there, Autobots!” The ‘con yelled, a sinister smile on his face. “I hear you’re trying to get away with separating the ship from what’s going to blow!”

Bee transformed and started to fire at the seeker, barely keeping his footing as the pressure escaping outside the ship threatened to pull him out.

“I’ll hold him off, just go!”

“Bee!” Hot Rod transformed too, reaching for his friend.

“Go!” Bumblebee forced his way to the front of the seeker.

“Say goodbye, you stupid auto-” The decepticon was interrupted by Bee punching him in the face.

“Get.” He punched him. “Off.” Bee threw another punch. “My.” Bumblebee grabbed the seeker by the neck. “SHIP!” Bee punched him one more time, making the seeker release his grip on the walls and flinging him out.

With Bumblebee still holding on and punching him.

“Bumblebee!” Hot Rod cried out, but it was in vain. Bumblebee had flown out of their ship’s doomed hull punishing the seeker.

Hot Rod forced his way to the deck. The survivor count was definitely less than he would have liked. _Optimus would have saved them all,_ he thought to himself.

“Hot Rod, where’s Bumblebee?” Kup asked. Hot Rod remained silent. “I… I see.” Kup turned to the pilot, Jetfire. “Start the separation! Ship’s gonna blow any minute!”

Within moments, the front section of their ship had detached and went flying out with the remaining crew in tow. Moments later, the rest of the ship had detonated.

On the deck, the autobots remained silent. The mission should not have had any casualties. It was a simple start to what was supposed to be a new alliance. And now, they suffered the loss of too many autobots to count.

"I should've done more..." Hot Rod looked down, his fist clenched in anger.

"Kid, you did all you could have," Kup assured him. He looked to the bridge and began to address the surviving crew members. "Alright everyone, listen up. We came here with a job to do. We are the last of the  _Lost Light_. And we will accomplish our mission, No matter the cost." He pointed towards the pilot and barked orders at him, telling him to find a decent landing point for them to start repairs to the ship and contact the base, wherever it was.

Looking through a window, Hot Rod could see the outline of a city nearby, and strangely, he felt something in his spark resonating. It was odd, but the feeling somehow was assuring him.

Lightyears away, on the planet Cybertron, the Matrix of Leadership gleamed and radiated. And Optimus Prime could feel it in his spark. The dawn of the next Prime was coming.

And it was waiting on Remnant.


	2. Yellow: Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 10/11. Some quick rewrites. I have the original preserved for the sake of it, but I more or less was unhappy with Bee and Yang's interaction and getting on the road, so I wrote it more, tried to make it more or less like how I'd imagine it going on in a movie or show. Hope it pays off. I might put the original back somewhere else later if someone else wants it, for some ungodly reason.

Bumblebee was falling. Fast.

He considered himself lucky that the ship had already passed through the atmosphere, for the most part. If he had leapt out of the ship any earlier, then he would likely have burned up in his entry without a proper ship. So now, all that he had to worry about was the landing impact.

Luckily for him, he still had a tight hold on the Decepticon seeker that had attacked him and Hot Rod. Though he kept punching, he started giving orders as well.

"Hey, ugly!" He yelled on top of the 'con between his punches. "Why don't you transform and land us to safety, already?"

The Decepticon scowled at this, however. "You're beating me up and we tried to kill each other, and now, you want me to SAVE you?"

Bee smirked. "Yeah, because I know you sure don't wanna die like this, either!"

The 'con took a moment to take his words into account. The Autobot was right, he didn't want to die in a crash. Especially not while getting pummeled by an Autobot.

"Fine! But this is the only time!" The seeker transformed into his vehicle mode, a jet fighter, with Bumblebee still grabbing on to him. The 'con had to hand it to him, this 'bot didn't let go easily.

Then they heard it. The explosion. Bumblebee remained silent, but the Decepticon didn't want to tease him for it. Not that he had any reason to, anyway.

Lowering altitude and speed, the Decepticon flipped Bumblebee off him, as he transformed back into his robot mode, sending them both skidding and digging trenches into the dirt below them. Bee was unfortunately tumbling and crashing throughout most of his landing, though.

Bee got up first, despite his landing, and in seconds, the 'con had a gun to his head. "Whoa, whoa, WHOA! C'mon, I know we just tried to kill each other, but can't a guy catch a break?"

Bee whacked the 'con on the back of his head with his gun. "You sure are one to change quickly," he noted.

"That's why they call me  _Thundercracker!"_  the 'con proudly said. Bee rolled his eyes.

"Thundercracker? Really? Your bosses must've really hated you," he remarked.

"Yeah, they kinda did," Thundercracker admitted, "but I at least got the job done most of the time!" He said, uppercutting Bumblebee from an angle he couldn't see.

Rising up into the air, Thundercracker laughed. "That's payback for all those punches, 'bot!" As he began to transform, he kept talking. "But I'll let you live, just 'cuz you didn't kill us both like a maniac. But next time, you won't be so lucky!" With that, Thundercracker blasted off, heading Primus-knows-where, leaving Bumblebee alone.

Bee rolled his eyes.  _What a loose cannon,_  he thought.  _Were Hot Rod and I like this? Ugh, whatever, he's out of my hair now. It's best to see what's up ahead. No use in trying to go back._  Bee transformed himself, hoping that he'd at least be able to find some kind of civilization, and hopefully, his teammates.

Yang had been through a lot. Not just emotionally (though she'd admit that was more recent), but physically, she'd also done quite a lot. She had to admit, she probably had more crazy adventures than other hunters her age, if not even other hunters in general.

But she had to admit, she hadn't expected to see two giant robots throwing punches and turning into jets and cars.

She hadn't  _meant_  to find these things, at least this time. She was just minding her business, speeding on her bike, on the road to Mistral. Then all of a sudden, there's an explosion in the sky, the earth shakes, and turning too her side, she sees two deep trenches that make it look like meteors crashed on Remnant.

She was more focused on getting to her younger sister. But c'mon, wouldn't you check out something like a meteor that just crashed? Stuff like that didn't happen every day, even if you go out of your way to do crazy stuff every day. And then she saw them.  _Giant fighting transforming robots?_  Yang squealed inside herself from the mere awesomeness of the concept, and she was awestruck in the distance, when she could see them. Granted, not many punches were thrown, but it was still cool just to look at. Seeing one of them turn into a jet and leave them in the dust with a sonic boom was pretty rad, more than enough to make up for the lack of violence. Though she expected the remaining robot to turn into a jet similarly and follow the other one, Yang was surprised to see the robot turn into a car.

A pretty neat looking car, at that. Like, wow. She loved her bike and all, but even she had to admit, that was one  _stylish_  car. It even had a color scheme to match, the classic pair of black and yellow! Just like her and Blake!

As it drove off, a part of Yang should've told her that trying to pursue it was stupid, crazy, and above all else: dangerous. Instead, that same part leapt at the "dangerous" part. Without any hesitation, Yang got back on her bike to follow the black and yellow car driving nowhere in particular.

_I have no idea where I'm going._

Bee knew that from the start, but honestly, he was really feeling it now. He was looking, but he couldn't even find a damn  _road._  At this rate, he was going to run out of energon well before he finds any civilization, let alone his team.

In reality, he had plenty of energon before being flung out of the  _Lost Light_. He was just in a bad mood. 

The mission was not supposed to be like that. Yes, he agreed to go as a soldier, but he thought that the worst of the war was over. Megatron was gone, and so was Prime. So what were Decepticons doing so far out from Cybertron, boarding a ship on a mission to another planet? And why did so many innocent people have to die?

It was naive of himself to think it'd all be over the way things ended, but he really had hope peace would finally last. If word got out about what just happened, no doubt things would get heated back home. Peace talks would fall through, and the war would go back to the way things were, just without its two famous leaders at the helm.

Bee was interrupted from his thoughts when he heard a growling noise, feral in nature. Turning his rear-view windows, he could see that there was a black beast nearing him. Bee wasn't stupid, he had done his homework before the mission.  _This must be one of the Grimm Ironhide reported_   _on_ ,he noted. It didn't seem like it'd be much of a problem to him, though. It was big, yeah. But he was bigger. And armed. This guy only had his claws and his teeth, he could easily see that.

Bee transformed back into his robot mode, figuring no sentient life was around anyway. Getting into a fighting pose, he taunted the Grimm. "C'mon!" he yelled at it, waving his fingers towards him.

The Grimm took the bait and lunged toward him, fangs bared and ready to bite. Even though there was no real threat in a bite from the Grimm besides dented metal, Bee avoided damage anyway, dodging to its side, away from its trajectory. He then struck the Grimm at its side, punching it in where its ribcage would have been if it had a ribcage. Though it didn't vanish like Ironhide's report said, Bee could see that it clearly took damage. A giant metal fist would do that to you, he supposed.

The Grimm once again leapt towards Bumblebee, only this time, it was caught in midair by the autobot, more than a match for it. Bee had caught it by its open jaw, prying it open, its salivating tongue and slimy fangs grossing him out. Regardless, Bee took the Grimm's jaw and split it open as far as he could, breaking a loud  _crack_  into the environment. The Grimm whimpering, Bee decided to finish it, grabbing the beast by its neck and slamming it into the floor. The shock followed by the force of its jaw being broken, the Grimm faded, with Bumblebee none worse for the wear.

Wiping the dust off his hands, Bee smirked, satisfied. But he then heard more Grimm cries, this time, followed by the sound of a shotgun.

_Looks like I finally found someone else these things don't like,_  he thought.  _Let's give 'em a hand!_

Yang had to be honest, she had been itching for a real fight for a while now. No sparring, but a real "life-or-death" scenario fight with Grimm or an outlaw. And lo and behold, a Grimm happened to appear out of the woodwork while she followed the machine from before. Granted, a plain old Beowolf seemed pretty dull, but she'd take what she could get.

Leaping into action, Yang went straight for its maw, punching it hard on its nose before blasting it with her gauntlets.

_It's been way too long since I've heard you girls singing,_  she thought. And honestly, it had been. Last time she had used Ember Celica, she was armed. As in, she actually had both her arms back then. Though she had since gotten used to her prosthetic replacement, Yang still did feel a bit odd using the mechanical limb attached to her for live combat.

The Grimm, now very much pissed at her, snarled, recovering barely from the shotgun blast from point blank. Rushing at her, Yang felt the familiar rush of adrenaline as she stared down the Grimm. "C'mon boy, time to put you down!"

Through there duel, Yang had been unaware of the other sounds and thuds coming from beyond a few trees, too absorbed in her own fight to notice or care.

So she very much didn't notice as the giant robot she was tracking approached her, hoping to squash the Grimm himself.

"Alright now," Yang grunted out, her fist about to collide with the Grimm's mask. "Play dead!" She yelled, before laying a final strike on the Grimm, striking it down to the earth with all of her strength, crushing the mask into pieces and melting the creature into shadows.

_Whew, that felt good,_  she thought.  _I really needed that. Was worried I'd end up taking that out with Ruby nearby._  She wiped the sweat off her brow, and was heading back towards her bike, ready to continue her pursuit.

And then as she turned, she heard a crushing sound she dreaded hearing, and she saw where she left it, all she could see was a metal leg on top of it.

She stared.  _Shit_. That was her only ride. The only way she was gonna catch up to Ruby and her friends. And now her bike, her baby, was crushed. By the metal giant she was following.

The robot looked down nervously.

"Whoops," he chuckled nervously.

It would have taken all of Yang's self-control to hold back her anger.

Anyone who knew Yang knew she wasn’t the kind of girl to show restraint, anyway.

**"What the HELL?!?! That was my bike! And you just destroyed it!"**

The robot backed off sheepishly. "Whoa, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

**"Didn't mean to? HOW THE HELL DO YOU NOT LOOK WHERE YOU'RE STEPPING? WHAT ARE YOU, FOUR?"**

Yang cursed out the metal titan for far longer than she anticipated, making sure that it got an earful of what she thought and felt. She had a rather colorful vocabulary that she didn't get to use often, and she wanted to use it, first impressions be damned.

**"AND THAT'S WHY YOU OUGHTA WATCH WHERE YOU STEP, YOU GIANT SCRAPHEAP!"** She finished, finally out of ways to call the robot out. Taking a step back, she fell back on the floor.

"Oh, um... sorry," the machine apologized. "You're right, it was really stupid of me to just step on your bike."

Yang sighed before giving up and throwing her arms in the air. "Forget it, I'll just... walk," she said. "Thanks a lot, metalhead." Walking to Mistral's gonna be a long hike, she thought, walking away to grab her things and make her way back to the road.

Walking away, Yang heard the loud thudding of its footsteps coming at her. She turned around, and damn right, it was following her. Sighing, she asked. "What is it now? What, was my bike not enough?"

"Er... I wanted to make it up to you," the giant said. Yang had  _not_  expected that. "I can at the very least take you to wherever it was you were heading to."

Yang took the opportunity to get a good examination of the mechanical titan. Surprisingly, it had a human-like face, at least as human-like it could get with metal instead of skin. The blue light in its eyes shone brightly, almost as if it had a soul of its own. And it had a very pleasing color scheme, at least to her. She was a sucker for yellow, after all.

Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to take up the robot on its offer.

“Do you know where how to get to Mystral?” she asked.

“Well no,” he admitted, “but I can give you a lift and let you lead the way. Can ya drive?”

“Well enough,” she answered. “Was more of a biker, though…” she grumbled under her breath. Her bike’s loss was gonna take a while to get over, to be honest.

“Well, I’ll let you take the wheel,” he said. With that, the robot transformed again into a yellow muscle car she tailed into the forest, it’s door swinging open as an invitation.

Normally, Yang would have told anyone else to piss off. And she knew it’d probably be crazy to climb inside a car that turns into a robot. But she didn’t really have other options beside walk. Wasn’t like there were any people besides her that’d give her a lift, after all.

Slowly, she walked into the vehicle and gotten behind the wheel. Tossing her things into the seat to the side, she settled down in the car-bot, sighing and ready for the incoming journey.

“Hey,” she called to the car as the engine roared alive. “Do you have a name?”

“Name’s Bumblebee,” his voice rang from inside. “And I’m guessing _you_ have a name too?”

Yang took a second to chuckle at the irony of it. Her bike Bumblebee was crushed by a robot car hybrid… called Bumblebee. “Bumblebee, huh? I’m Yang.”

“Well then, Yang, the wheel’s all yours!” Bumblebee said. “Lead the way!”

From that, Bumblebee’s engine roared, and Yang’s mood instantly perked up.

“Got some horsepower under the hood, huh? Let’s see how fast you go.”

Stepping on the gas, she drove through the path she took on her bike, one that Bumblebee had carved into the earth as he crashed down on Remnant. In minutes, Yang and Bee were on the road.

“Not bad!” She said, looking down at the wheel, trying to find something close to a decent point to focus her communication to Bumblebee. She found herself drawn to the square-like, face-like symbol on his wheel, one she had also noticed on his robotic form. Tracing her thumb over it, she decided to speak her mind. “Hey, what’s this symbol on here? I saw it on you earlier, too.”

“That symbol…” Bumblebee answered, “Is the sign of… my people,” he said, hesitating to give a full answer.

“You? Have people?” Yang asked sarcastically and raising an eyebrow.

“Er…” _Scrap,_ Bumblebee thought. _The higher ups are going to throttle me for this._

“I’m teasing,” Yang said, breaking his silence. “I kinda saw you beating up that other guy, too. Is there some problem you had with him?”

“Oh, you saw that? Well, that makes things easier. That guy you saw was Thundercracker… one of the Decepticons. That symbol you see on me shows what I am: an Autobot.”

Yang took a moment of silence.

She then started laughing.

“Hey, what are you laughing at?” Bumblebee asked her. “You asked what it meant!”

“I’m sorry,” Yang said, trying to answer earnestly through her laughter. “But that sounds… kinda corny.”

“Yeah, well, it’s just the way things are. Decepticons tend to be bad news, and we just tend to be the ones to fight back against ‘em.”

“Well, anyway,” Yang said, moving on. “We’re on the road. It’s a straight path to Mystral from here… at least it should be.”

“Great, how long is the drive?” Bumblebee asked.

“I’m not sure. This was my first trip there, too,” Yang confessed. “But hey, like I said, it should be a straight path, right?”

“Oh great,” Bumblebee snarked, his eyes almost rolling in Yang’s head just from the tone of his voice. “Well, might as well put pedal to the metal. You mind if I put on some music, Yang? It might be a long drive, after all.”

“Hm… depends. What kind of stuff you got?”

“Some stuff you haven’t heard of, that’s for sure… I think you’ll like it, though.”

“Well, then, what are you waiting for? Turn it up!”

As Yang stomped on the gas pedal, [Bumblebee’s music roared](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKjNVVmLCGQ) into existence, electric guitars wailing in a rock ballad as the vocals were filled with soul.

“Bee,” she said, smirking as she shortened his name and kept her eyes on the road. “I think we’re going to get along just fine.”

Just then, the chorus kicked in.

_“DARE! DARE TO BELIEVE YOU CAN SURVIVE! YOU HOLD THE FUTURE IN YOUR HAND!”_

Speeding down the streets, both could agree that this was going to be one hell of a trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was seriously contemplating making Bumblebee mute for these first few chapters like he was in Prime and the movies. He would've gotten his voicebox messed up in his fight with Thundercracker, so he wouldn't be able to interact with Yang directly through speech. Figured that fight would've killed off Thundercracker though, and I honestly didn't have the heart to do that just yet, so Bumblebee gets to keep his voice.  
> I already have a plan to fix that, though it'll more than likely be more towards the end of the fic.  
> Thundercracker himself was a throw-in. I didn't have plans to, but I figured since he was a seeker, and I didn't want to use Starscream yet, I might as well have thrown him in.


	3. Iron in the Desert

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 10/13: Rewrote this one too. Kinda feel like it ended rushed. I feel like I made it a bit stronger now, with some more gruntled but not completely cold Ironhide, Ghira's description of how he met Ironhide being lessened, and getting a bit more descriptive of the end. Battle scene and more or less the first half is mostly untouched, though.

Ghira Belladonna was having one hell of a week.

He was initially ecstatic to see his daughter return to his doorstep. That quickly changed when he met Sun Wukong, the monkey that was following her. And then the White Fang's recent actions come to a head, with one of them directly attacking his daughter and wounding her friend. That had driven him and Blake to the resolution to challenge the White Fang, to take control of the movement turned violent.

But he had... other things to worry about. A business associate of his had told him that he was having some... "friends" over. This, if anything, was a stretch.

Ghira had known him for quite some time. He was a hard worker, gruff, but definitely loyal, and a damn good soldier. He was also an alien robot that could turn into a vehicle. Ghira had got mixed up with them by some chance of fate, and as a result, had found himself one of the few on Remnant aware of their alien visitors. But his wife and child? They definitely had no clue about it all, at least as far as he knew.

Ghira trusted the alien associate for the most part, but he knew things were going to get a lot more complicated with more company. While his associate wasn't alone at first, his numbers were small, and they were able to avoid attracting too much attention. But with more visitors coming, Ghira feared that the transformers would be revealed, not just to his family, but to all of Menagerie, and perhaps even Remnant. They knew this, and his associate assured him that he'd do his best to discipline the visitors, but Ghira had a feeling that the inevitable reveal would arrive.

So now, here he lay, at the town's edge, waiting for the vehicle that would take him to his base. It lay somewhat into the desert, so not many were willing to travel and find it. Those daring enough would find the base of the transformers more than well-hiden. He had already been messaged via their technology to meet up with them, so now all he had to do was wait.

"Dad? What are you doing here?" Ghira found his thoughts interrupted by his daughter, who had approached him without being noticed.

"Oh, Blake, it's you." He loosened up a bit, slightly relieved to see that it was only his daughter who had approached him. "I was just out here waiting for someone. An old friend wanted to see me, and this is where we usually meet up."

Blake tilted her head, clearly somewhat suspicious. "You're waiting to meet up with a friend. On the outskirts of town. Are you  _sure_ this is safe?"

Ghira chuckled a bit. "Yes, I'm more than sure about this, don't worry. I trust him with my life," he assured her.

Ghira instantly regretted that word choice, seeing that clearly Blake didn't like those terms. Sun Wukong had mentioned to his wife (the boy wouldn't dare tell him directly) that Blake's former teammates had also been in some life-threatening situations as huntresses. It had been so long since he had seen his daughter, he had nearly no idea what she had been through during her absence. Trying to calm her down, he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Blake, I know you're worried about everything happening lately. Anyone else would. But I trust this man. We're a part of a team. And that's what teammates are supposed to do, right? You alone should know by now, after going to Beacon."

Blake's expression lowered at that, but clearly, softened to a feeling less of fear and more of guilt.

"Would you like to talk about it?" Ghira asked. She nodded gently in response, and sat down on the floor, against the wall across the desert for support.

"You really trust your team members, huh?" Blake asked.

"Of course," he answered. "We have to work together to truly be a functional team, after all. I'm guessing you had trouble working with others in Beacon?"

"Yeah... a lot more than I should have, really," Blake confessed. "Our team just felt so... different, I guess. Our team leader was the youngest of us, her older sister was there acting barely more mature than her, and I had to work with-" She cut herself off briefly, before continuing. "I had to work with a Schnee."

"A Schnee?" Ghira raised an eyebrow. "You mean like the Dust company, the ones the White Fang hate, Schnee?"

"Well, yeah, at first." Blake continued. "But after a while, I think I really did start trying to fit in more. I even got along better with the Schnee, for crying out loud!"

"So why'd you leave if you were finally starting to feel like you were fitting in?" Ghira asked. He knew it was direct, but it had to be asked. Even if she hadn't been there for a while, he still knew his daughter well. He already knew the answer, but maybe she needed to get it out of her as well.

"Because... because I let them get hurt because of me."

"This has to do with that Yang girl, does it?" Blake looked shocked he even knew her teammate's name, but he stopped her before she could question him. "Your mother talks to that Sun boy a lot. More than I'd like, personally, but he at least told us what's going on."

Blake sighed in defeat. "She lost her arm taking a blow that was meant for me," she admitted. "How could I even face them after that? It's my fault, I hurt them, I-"

"Blake," Ghira interrupted. "I know that you probably feel guilty about what happened with the White Fang, with Taurus. But you've been running away from your problems constantly, and even when they catch up to you, you run again. It's natural to be afraid. We all are afraid of something." Taking his finger underneath her jaw, he raised his daughter's face to look at him in the eyes. "But running isn't going to solve your problems."

"W-well what am I supposed to do?" Blake asked. "What can I do to make up for everything I've done to them?"

"Blake, are they your friends?" He asked.

"They were my team, but-"

"You didn't answer me. Were they your friends?"

She nodded.

"Then go back to them. Beg them for forgiveness. Show them that you'll never do what you did again. Show them that they'll be able to count on you. That you are a part of their team. It might not solve everything, but it's the first step to fixing things."

Blake ran into her father's arms, very much crying from her father's words. Ghira didn't mind, he'd give Blake as many hugs as she'd like, as many that she'd need. He was her father, after all.

Their moment was interrupted, however, as Ghira heard something shift through the sand. It wasn't his ride, no. It was something different. That's when he realized that something had come too close to home for comfort.

"Blake, get out of here!" Ghira yelled, putting her to the side. As he did, two large Grimm burst from the sand, two scorpion-like beasts with stingers that looked larger than even them.

Pulling out her weapon, Blake entered a battle stance. "No, I've got this!" She said, before leaping into action.

Damn it, she took his advice about running the wrong way. Or the right way. Either way, now his daughter was in danger. He reached into his pocket, pulling out the radio that kept him connected to his associates. "Belladonna reporting in! My daughter's in danger, and there's Grimm here that are way too close to the city! So get your metal behinds in gear and get over here!" Putting it away, he rushed to his daughter's side, hoping he wasn't too late in calling for backup, and that it'd even come in time.

* * *

 

If there was anything Blake was confident in fighting, it was Grimm. Grimm were mindless, soulless. Even if they kept coming, she'd carry no guilt for each Grimm slain.

This particular Grimm was quite ugly. Scorpion-like in appearance, it was definitely not as large as the Death Stalker she fought with her friends on her first real day at Beacon, but still quite an impressive size. It's black body was not nearly as armored as the Death Stalker, she noticed, though its stinger tail seemed more armored. The creature also had two frontal claws with pincers at the end, like a crab, except not nearly as cute, and instead much more harmful. The armor seemed less evenly spread than the previously mentioned Grimm, but more focused on its claws and tail, with white bone plates trailing down and covering it.

Readying her weapon, Gambol Shroud, she tried calculating ways in her mind to dispatch the attacking Grimm as efficiently and quickly as possible. Clearly, removing its tail was still not an option. And though more armored towards its front with its claws, the top part of it's back seemed much more vulnerable. The problem came in nearing it. And Blake was quite a nimble fighter, she was more than confident that she'd be able to reach it's weak point quickly.

As the Grimm came rushing towards her, Blake leaped out of harm's way- which was admittedly more difficult than she'd like to admit, being on sand. The Grimm's tail rose and prepared to strike, which she noticed, preparing to dodge again. As it struck, she rolled to the stinger's side, using Gambol Shroud to latch onto the tail and zoom up onto the Grimm's back. On the back of the creature, she hoped she was somewhat safe; she didn't have much time if the Grimm was willing to impale itself to get her. Readying her weapon into it's blade mode, Blake slashed quickly at the vulnerable back of the beast, it screeching in pain as a result. She then stabbed into the wound she opened, the Grimm giving a loud whine before dissolving.

Unfortunately, Blake had been to preoccupied trying to efficiently finish the first Grimm she had nearly forgotten the second. Searching around her, she scanned the area, hoping to catch sight of it. She had a feeling it was still around, but  _where_ _?_

The Grimm then suddenly lept out from behind her, and Blake winced, fearing her life was at an end.

Instead of the sharp pain she expected however, she heard her father slamming himself into the Grimm from it's side.

"Blake, are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine, but I can take these out by myself, Dad, I already killed the first one-"

"But there's obviously more of them!" He cut her off. As he said this, the Grimm he slammed into was rising up from its side, attempting to dig its way into the sand to strike again. He grabbed it's bony tail, and pulled it's half-sunken body out of the sand. "Kill it!"

Blake didn't need to be told that twice, and struck it's exposed back fast and hard. As the Grimm dissolved, she started seeing more Grimm hiding under the sand, moving and keeping barely visible beneath the cover of the sand. Soon, she could see them circling them underneath the sand. They were trapped. She got back-to-back with her father. If they were going down, they'd be going down together as warriors.

Then, suddenly, bullets started firing into the sand around them. The Grimm circling her and her father scattered, and flailed up out from their hiding place beneath the sand. Blake heard an engine as she turned to her side, and saw a large, black truck roaring out and colliding into one of the Grimm.

Blake was already somewhat disoriented with the sudden appearance of the truck. But then, on top of the scorpion Grimm,  _the truck transformed._ She couldn't help but stare in awe as she saw the vehicle take the shape of that of what she could only describe as a metal man ten times her size. The metal man pulled out a gun (from where she couldn't exactly tell, but it looked somewhat like from where his doors had gone to) and blasted to finish off the Grimm underneath him, a large bang coming from what sounded and looked like an oversized shotgun.

Flipping his wrist, the metal man's arm changed form into that of another gun. Taking aim at the surrounding Grimm, he opened fire on them his arm now with a machine gun-like apparatus, tearing them up with bullets, shredding them until the Grimm were all but wiped out.

Blake was confused and conflicted. On one hand, this metal man had saved her life, along with that of her father's, and it eliminated all of the Grimm that threatened them too. On the other, she could easily see he was armed and dangerous. If he made short work of those Grimm, she'd hate to see it turn it's weapons on her and her father.

"You took your time, huh?" Blake looked to find her father addressing the metal man, to her surprise. "I actually just called in for backup. Did you get that message, or did you just happen to get here on time?"

"You're lucky I was nearby, Belladonna," the metal man responded in a deep voice, which sounded a tinge robotic. "Perceptor sent the message my way as soon as he got it. I just  _happened_ to be clicks away when he shared it." He then turned to Blake, and their gazes locked for a second. He grunted and his faces contorted, in a startling human-like way, and aimed his gun at her, it's barrel still smoking. "What's this doing here, Belladonna? You know the rules." Blake gulped. She was in trouble.

"Easy now, she's my  _daughter,_ " Ghira said. "Do  _anything_ to her and I'll make sure your higher ups hear about it. And that's not even getting started on what _I'll_ do to you."

The mechanical titan lowered his arm cannon with a smirk on his face. "Relax Ghira, I'm just joking," he said, transforming his arm from the machine-gun to a hand. "You should know by now that taking out humans isn't our M.O."

Blake felt herself loosen up a bit. Only a bit, though. She looked to her father, confusion in her eyes. "Dad... what _is_ this thing?" 

Ghira sighed and shook his head. "Blake, I'd like you to meet that associate I told you I came here to meet. This is Ironhide, and to put it simply, he's from beyond Remnant."

She honestly couldn't tell if she was being pranked or not.

"Ironhide," Ghira turned towards the machine man. "This is my daughter, Blake. Try to be nice to her, will you?" Blake could feel Ironhide's gaze on her, as if he sensed her uneasiness.

"So,  _this_ is the infamous Blake Belladonna, huh?" She gulped again, unsure of how to react to the titan addressing her.

"Infamous?" She asked.

"Well, your father would never shut up about you," Ironhide responded. "About how proud he was of you for 'doing what you could for your people.' We don't even know you personally, but believe me, we know all about you back at H.Q."

She blushed, both at her father's indirect praise and the news that she was apparently known quite well at "H.Q."

"Well then," Ironhide said, addressing her father once again. "Belladonna, you know the protocol. She's coming in with us."

"Wait, coming with you?" She asked. "Where?"

"Headquarters, Blake," her father answered. "You're now aware of one of the biggest secrets in Remnant's modern history. And Ironhide's team isn't one to keep people roaming around the way you do."

Ironhide transformed back into the truck Blake first saw him enter and ram the Grimm in, and his doors flung open. "Get in, kid," he said. "You're going to make some new...  _friends_ today."

She looked nervously at her dad. He only nodded at her, silently telling her she could trust him.

She was hesitant, but she trusted her father. She climbed into the truck, finding it larger than she expected. Hearing the engine start up, she jumped a bit in her seat hearing Ironhide's voice in the vehicle.  _"Ironhide to H.Q. I've made contact with Belladonna, and taken care of the Grimm reported near Menagerie. Making my way back to the Ground Bridge coordinates."_

As Ironhide started to drive off, she felt her chest tighten a bit from uncertainty. She wasn't expecting this to happen at all today. What was she going to find at their headquarters? How did her father get involved with this? The silence of the ride was getting uncomfortable, too.

"So..." she started, awkwardly chuckling, hoping to find  _some_ way to break the ice. "How'd you meet Ironhide, Dad?"

Ironhide groaned. _"Ghira, you tell her."_

Ghira rolled his eyes. "He saved my life not too long after you left Menagerie. Saved the city, actually. Without him, we'd be much more vulnerable to the Grimm."

Blake blinked her eyes in surprise. "So... Ironhide's watching over the city?"

Ghira nodded. "More or less. He and his men have helped us survive, all while keeping themselves secret to all but a few."

"Does mom know?" she asked.

"...a bit. I know better than to keep secrets from your mother," Ghira chuckled.

_"We're nearing the ground bridge coordinates,"_ Ironhide rang out in the middle of Ghira's tale.  _"Perceptor, take us home."_

_"Understood, Ironhide,"_ a voice responded over the radio. " _Opening ground bridge to headquarters._ " Before Blake's eyes, a wormhole opened up in thin air, surging lightning near its rings and sucking up the air around as Ironhide started driving towards it.

Understandably, she panicked.

"What are you doing? What is that thing?!" She yelled at the truck. "Turn around!"

_"It's a wormhole, kid. What, did they not teach you this kind of thing in school?"_ Ironhide snarked.

She was about to scream, but it was too late. Ironhide drove through the wormhole, and Blake braced herself for the worst possible outcome, shutting her eyes.

Feeling the truck stop, Blake opened her eyes. What she saw was what she could describe as a hangar, with a few soldiers roaming around. She could hear voices all around, most of them not even judging or paying notice to her, but busy with their own concerns she assumed was their responsibilities.

_"Alright, we're here. Not too bad now, was it?"_ Ironhide's voice echoed in the truck. " _Now get off,"_ he said, swinging open his door. As his door opened, Blake peeked at the floor, seeing it was solid concrete, and sighed.

She and her father leaped out of Ironhide and landed on the floor. As soon as they were out, Ironhide took the liberty of transforming back into his taller bipedal robot form. [The hangar door opened, and as it opened, Blake's jaw dropped.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4gngu-7fDY)

The room behind the door was massive. She could see vehicles driving around, carrying around machines she didn't even know existed, being driven by faunus and men alike. The hangar was not just filled with men, but ships, flying airships of a unique style she could only describe as "alien." The hangar seemed dense, partly due to the amount of workers there, but with all the storage and cubes of dust she saw being stored. But above all, what shocked her the most were the other titans similar to Ironhide. Not as big, some definitely in brighter colors, but very much giant robots that seemed out of her world.

"Quit drooling, kid," Ironhide said, snapping her out of her shock. "What you're looking at is the result of our landing ten years ago and the establishment of an alliance in favor of both parties. Together, though we stay secret, we make sure the Grimm never cross the threshold that you huntsmen can't fight alone. Welcome to the headquarters of N.E.S.T."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Take a shot every time I write sand in there.  
> I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating. And it gets everywhere.  
> Felt like the action scene played out better in my head than on paper, but hey, those are words for you.  
> Glad I got some character moments in between Ghira and Blake, though. I like that Blake's family is sweet as hell, to be honest. Especially considering that Ruby and Yang's family is kinda messy with Raven abandoning them, Summer dead, and Taiyang more or less broken from both of those things, and Weiss's family... well, Winter seems like the only other decent one, let's be real.  
> Speaking of, expect her next chapter.


End file.
